The City of Atlanta and Atlanta Police Department have been awarded $1,649,965.90 from the State of Georgia Public Safety and Community Violence Reduction Grant.
The money comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and will be used for projects to improve community-level public safety measures, according to a press release from the city.
“The City will always put federal funds to use—especially when it comes to keeping our communities safe,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in the release. “Every dollar spent keeping an illegal gun off our street or out of the hands of someone who should not have one is a worthy investment. We appreciate our State and Federal partners for supporting our vision for One Safe City, where proactive public safety measures improve the quality of life for all Atlanta families.”
The grant funding will be specifically allocated as follows:
- $227,746.90 for Citizens Safe and Responsible Gun Ownership training, including the purchase of gun boxes. This effort will help reduce the number of illegal guns on Atlanta’s streets, and guns ending up in the hands of children and young people.
- $187,000 to augment the City’s License Plate Reader (LPR) network. The City’s LPR system leverages modern technology to assist public safety officials in tracking violent offenders, rather than tactics like high-speed car chases.
- $1,235,219 for analytics software for enhanced decision-making. Disseminating real time information to officers on the street will help personnel respond to events as they happen and increase efficiency.
More information about Dickens’ whole government approach to public safety can be found at OneSafeCity.com.